July 10, 2026
Cali, Day 5: USA and Egypt take world titles, and Libya wins landmark medals
Addie Jones from the United States and Ali Abdelradi from Egypt were dominant champions on day five of the IWF World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia. Their victories ended a run of four straight wins by European nations
Abdelradi, who holds all three youth world records at 79kg, did not make any attempts to better them in Cali but did not need to, finishing 13kg clear with a five-from-six 143-175-318
Jones was helped to 69kg victory on her World Championships debut by one of the biggest names in the sport in the United States
Mike Gattone, USA Weightlifting’s performance director and head coach, is there for all team members at international events – but with Jones he has a stronger presence because he is her personal coach at her home gym near Chicago
Two B Group lifters made the podium on total as Jones finished 12kg clear on 91-114-205, making all six lifts and claiming a sweep of national youth records
“Addie’s very committed, trains five times a week and I’m real proud of her,”said Gattone
He has been personal coach to other international medallists including Abby Raymond and Jackie Berube-Black – who is also part of the national coaching team and is in Cali – but Jones was his first athlete to win on the global stage since Tara Nott’s gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
“I wouldn’t say it makes any difference that I’m Addie’s personal coach because I give the same level of commitment and attention to everyone on the team, but it’s a good feeling,” said Gattone
“I first went into coaching back in 1990. Of course there were people coaching at clubs and gyms but at that time there were only two full-time paid weightlifting coaches in the US, Dragomir Cioroslan at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and me at a not-for-profit project in Peoria, Illinois, aimed at getting at-risk kids into the sport. It changed my life.”
Jones, who was 17 last month and started lifting aged nine, said of Gattone, “He’s the best. I’m on a roll of going six-for-six in my past few competitions and I was expecting a medal here. Mike has done a lot of work with me for this, physical and mental, and it really helped.”
Jones and Rhianne Cabalida (PHI)
Hagar Roshdy from Egypt, who had the highest entry total and was expected to challenge for medals, was not fit to lift and withdrew. Ilenia Vella from Italy and Edith Rios from Mexico won medals from the A Group but not on total
Vella took silver in clean and jerk and finished fourth on 81-106-187, while Rios was third in snatch and sixth overall on 86-98-184
Rhianne Cabalida, 15, failed with her final two attempts in the B Group but was second in snatch, third in clean and jerk and second on total for the Philippines on 88-105-193
Beyonce Bolanos was so surprised to win a medal that she was not there for the ceremony. Bolanos, from Ecuador, was fifth in snatch, fourth in clean and jerk and third on total from the B Group on 83-105-188
Abdelradi finished 13kg clear in the men’s event, making five from six for 143-175-318. It was a welcome and convincing victory for Egypt after disappointing earlier performances, two of which were marred by elbow injuries
There was a famous achievement for Libya when Abdulrauf Khalifa finished second. He made 137-168-305, moving up from fourth at halfway to become Libya’s first ever medallist at the World Youths
Libya had its first success at the World Juniors two years ago in Spain, when Mohammed Alzintani was third at 73kg, but has never won a senior World Championships medal
Khalifa’s father, Abdalla, won international medals around the turn of the century
Third place in a tight finish went to Yernur Myrzakhmet from Kazakhstan on 142-162-304. Arsenii Kurochkin from Russia was third in clean and jerk on 166kg and came desperately close to making the 174kg he needed for a medal on total. He could not lock out the lift and ended up seventh overall
Yigitham Eroglu from Turkiye took snatch bronze on 139kg and finished fourth when, like Kurochkin, he failed with his last two attempts
Photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia
